


Karma

by the_witching_hours



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 18:58:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_witching_hours/pseuds/the_witching_hours
Summary: Y/N: your name | Y/N/N: your nickname





	Karma

**Author's Note:**

> Y/N: your name | Y/N/N: your nickname

Bones and Jim were leaving Starfleet headquarters when Nurse Chapel commed them. The Enterprise was due to be recommissioned in a few days so the entire crew was on Earth for the ceremony.

“Just thought you’d want to know, Y/N is in medical right now. ”

“What? Is she okay?” Jim froze and grabbed Bones’ arm as they waited for a response.

“She looks pretty beat up, but she swears she’s fine.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t know she won’t tell me, I thought maybe you guys’d know.”

The two men headed straight to medical to find you. When they got there however, you were already gone. You’d checked yourself out against medical advice, and the head nurse wouldn’t let Bones see your chart. Not knowing where else you would have gone, they headed to the base residences, and your room. You were there, and they cornered you.

“Jesus Y/N! What happened to your hands?” Bones half-yelled as he knelt in front of where you sat on the edge of your bed.

You didn’t answer, not meeting either man’s eyes, keeping your face angled towards the floor. You didn’t succeed in keeping your face hidden for long though.

“Shit! What happened to your face?” Bones hissed as he noticed that in addition to your bruised and bloodied hands, you had an impressive bruise on your cheek, and a wicked cut running from your hairline to the middle of your eyebrow. 

“You should see the other guys,” you quipped, still looking at the floor.

“Who?” Jim asked, voice low. He was unbelievably angry and he needed to know who to take it out on.

“I’ll tell you later,” you said, meeting Jim’s gaze momentarily before looking away again, “Leo, seriously? I’ve already been to medical.” 

Doctor Leonard McCoy had many names. Jim called him “Bones”, sometimes you did too, but most of the time, you chose to call him “Leo”. He only allowed you and Jim to call him either of these names of course, but everyone in the crew knew who you were referring to.

“Yeah, and left against medical advice right? Damn it Y/N/N, sit still and let me look!”

“If I wanted you to look, I’d have come to you in the first place.”

“Yeah? Well now you have no choice.”

Resigning yourself with a sigh, you allowed him  to check the healing wounds. Once he was satisfied that the med team had done their job up to his standards, Leo left to get you some painkillers. On his way out, he shared a look with Jim, knowing that the captain would get the story out of you and take the appropriate measures, including, of course, sharing the story with his CMO.

As soon as the door closed, you looked up from the floor and, sheepishly met Jim’s gaze.

“Gonna tell me who hit you?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He expected you to resist, he did not expect you to laugh.

“Well, I wasn’t planning on anyone hitting anyone, but your uncle had a friend over.”

“My what? Why were you… How’d you get to Iowa?”

You had taken a long weekend, and although you’d told Jim and Leo that you were going to visit your sister, you’d gone to verbally chastise Jim’s abusive uncle.

You were one of very few people who knew about Jim’s past. You had seen the scars, both physical and emotional, that the time spent with his mother’s abusive brother had left him with. You hadn’t planned to get physical with the man, just to yell at him. He deserved worse, but you knew that you couldn't be the one to give it to him; not legally anyway. You didn’t really have a plan past yelling at Frank, but any plan you could have made would have been shot anyway. 

        Not even a minute into your rant, Frank had swung at you and connected with your cheek. Naturally, you swung back, a bit harder than him, and he fell back.Then his friend had appeared from the other room, and he wasn’t happy about the situation; not that he lasted long either. When the police arrived, you explained that you had just been there to talk.  Compared to the men's drunken and angry state, your purpling, bleeding face and your exemplary ‘fleet record , the police hadn’t taken long to let you go.

Jim had listened, silent and stunned, as you told him what had happened. His state of shock continued after you finished, and when you couldn’t stand his silence anymore, you spoke up.

“I won’t apologize for what I did. That asshat deserved more than what I did to him, and I would have done more if I could have gotten away with it. But-” you cut off as Jim moved.

He still didn’t speak, but he crossed the room, and knelt in front of you as Leo had done before. Unlike Leo though, Jim wrapped his arms around you and buried his face in the crook of your neck.

“ _ Why _ ? Why would you go there to see him Y/N/N?” Jim croaked at last.

“ _ Why _ ? Cause he’s a horrible, sorry excuse for a human being who abused you and he needed to know that people know. That people know, and he isn’t getting away with it.”

Jim didn’t respond, he didn’t even move when Bones reappeared at the door. He shot you a questioning look and raised an eyebrow, asking you for an explanation.

“I went to have a talk with Frank. He didn’t appreciate my tone, and he and his friend are in county lock up now.”

Leo, made a disapproving face, but nodded, “I assume you knocked them both flat first.”

“Wasn’t my intention, but yeah.” You rubbed Jim’s back, he still hadn’t moved.

“Why the fuck would you go there Y/N/N? You didn’t need to,” Jim mumbled into your neck.

“‘Need’ had nothing to do with it, Jim.”

“Truth be told, I’m kinda mad you didn’t let  _ me _ go with you,” Leo grumbled as he set the painkillers he’d promised on the table before sitting on the bed beside you. He put one arm around you and rested the other hand on Jim’s shoulder.

“But you didn’t need… I’m not worth that-”

“Do  _ not _ go there Jim,” you interrupted, pushing him away enough that you could see his face, but not so far that his arms fell away, “How many times have you put your life on the line for other people, Jim?”

He didn’t answer, but wouldn’t meet your gaze or Bones’.

“You’ve saved the crew so many times now. Why don’t you think  _ you _ are worth saving? Worth caring about?” You moved a hand to touch his cheek, and he met your eyes.

“You don’t get to decide what you’re worth to me, okay? You, James T. Kirk, are worth more bruises than this. And the motherfucker that you share genes with isn’t worth the oxygen required to say his name. So yeah, I went to Iowa to yell at him. Yeah, he got a lucky shot in, but guess what? His ass is in county, not mine. And if I had my way, he’d be there ‘til he died for what he did to you.”

You were shaking now and you moved to pull your hand away from Jim so you could wrap your arms around yourself, but he caught your hand and held it in place against his cheek.

Leo was smoothing your hair down your back, and kept his hand on Jim’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Jim smiled a little at the gesture, then looked at you, and smiled more.

“I love you too Y/N/N.”

You laughed quietly as Jim pulled you and Bones into a tight hug.

“Just try not to end up in medical over me again huh?”

“I second that,” Bones grumbled.

“Well I can’t make any promises,” you said quietly, “Jocelyn is next on my list.”

You felt Leo stiffen at the mention of his ex-wife’s name, but you heard Jim chuckle lightly.

“Ah, so it’s Bones’ turn next.”

“Yup. She hurt him, she’s gonna get to hear just how I feel about it.”

Bones didn’t relax fully, but he sighed, pressed his forehead into  the side of your head and muttered, “You’re lucky I love you Y/N.”

“I love you guys too.” The hug lasted so long that you and Leo had to help Jim off the floor, but as stiff and sore as he was, it was the best he’d felt in years.


End file.
